


Love and Other Vices

by RunningInThePouringRain



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Angst, Confessions, F/M, Love, Oral Sex, Sex, Smut, The night they spent together, Trying to redeem Booth after that OOC season 6 mess, after Vincent's death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:06:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29737074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunningInThePouringRain/pseuds/RunningInThePouringRain
Summary: Post 6x22 'The Hole in the Heart' - The night they got together after Vincent's death.Over the course of their first night together Booth and Brennan find their way back to each other after months of distance and bitterness and wasted time. Booth knows he has a lot to make up for and he isn't about to go after Broadsky until he's sure Bones understands what she means to him.
Relationships: Seeley Booth & Temperance Brennan, Seeley Booth/Temperance Brennan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	Love and Other Vices

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I don't own Bones. This is just me trying to make sense of Booth's character in Season 6 because God knows I need it. Plus I needed more in the way of conversation between them about what the hell they'd gone through during that season so here's my take. Plus smut. Because of course there's smut.

Booth was still awake, staring up at the dark ceiling of his bedroom with a smile. Bones was nestled into his side, her body draped over his as she slept. The warmth of her bare skin seeping into his in the dark as Booth held her.

They’d made love. He’d made love to her.

He couldn’t quite wrap his head around it despite the feeling of her leg wedged between his under the covers and the arm she had slung over his waist before falling asleep in his arms. He had all the proof right in front of him and yet Booth still felt like he was dreaming. His body was humming, limbs loose and a knowing knot in the base of his spine that meant he’d just had the best sex of his life. With his partner. _Bones_. The woman he’d loved for years and given up waiting for. A woman Booth was pretty sure he didn’t deserve and yet, here she was. Alive, asleep, and by his side.

Booth couldn’t shut down; he didn’t want to take a second of this for granted incase she realised she deserved better than the jerk he had spent months being to her. She came to him in grief tonight, the lost look on her face as she tried to make sense of something horrible. Her intern, the British one, the kid. _Vincent_. Booth never wanted her to have to go through that. He remembered another time, when it was him bleeding out in her arms on the floor rather than her intern and even though he didn’t die, Booth knew the look on her face. The fear was the same as it was yesterday when she tried to soothe Vincent in his final moments.

He pulled her sleeping body closer to him, like he could protect her from every bad thing in the world. Forcing down the bile in his throat that he was the cause for some of them. He did everything wrong this year and he knew it. He needed her to know he knew it. He needed her to know he was sorry and that was never going to be enough to make up for all the pain she’d gone through because of him. Booth remembered every inch of her tear-stained face as she sat in his car in the rain and told him she missed her chance. He remembered all the distance he tried to put between them hoping it would help eventually and all the times this year he pushed her away to protect himself. Not her. He’d been a selfish bastard, bitter and angry and in complete denial about his feelings.

Brennan sighed against him, her lips brushing against his shoulder as she slept on. God, she was beautiful. He’d let her cry herself out, tried to answer all her questions about God and the universe knowing they would never be enough for her. Eventually she stopped, and they laid there in his bed in silence until she kissed him. Booth could tell she was as shocked as he was at the move. Her eyes wide as she pulled back, the apology forming on her lips. He couldn’t bear to hear it, so he crushed her mouth against his again. Then their hands started moving and clothes started coming off and they worked seamlessly together, as Booth always imagined they would. She had assured him she wanted this, him, them when he tried to make sure she knew what was happening. He told her he couldn’t be her comfort if that’s all she wanted.

“I want what you promised me outside the Hoover.” She’d told him breathlessly, “I want 30 or 40 or 50 years and I want them to start right now.”

She’d seemed so sure and confident in her statement that it took Booth’s breath away. He wanted to tell her that they started long before today, he was just too much of an idiot to realise he’d been hers since the first moment he walked into her lecture hall and caught a glimpse of her that stole his heart. He couldn’t tell her any of that though because suddenly her mouth was on his and her hands were tugging at his sweatpants and Booth’s only coherent thought was: _more_.

Brennan had fallen asleep quickly, the grief and exhaustion of the day catching up with her and Booth wanted to follow her into sleep. He had to get Broadsky today and sleep would make him sharper, but his mind wouldn’t shut down. There was so much he needed to say to her, so much he needed her to know because they were doing this. Really, properly, doing this. He was all in and he needed her to be all in and she needed to understand what that meant.

He wasn’t sleeping any time soon, his mind throwing up moments and memories like an assault course. Every mistake he’d ever made between them being replayed like torture whilst she was in his arms. Booth could feel his stomach drop at the memory of her tears. He could remember the smell of her as they hugged after a year apart and he let her go too damn soon because his walls were up by then and he didn’t want them to fall down. His heart was thrumming too loudly to his own ears as he recalled her face when he told her he had to move on and all those times he cancelled their plans to avoid spending time with her because it was too painful to be around her and not reach out and touch her.

Panic unfurled in his gut. Too many damn mistakes. Their first time shouldn’t have been like this, brought to them through grief and sadness. She deserved better than that. He messed up and it led them here. A stolen moment to start a relationship that might end tomorrow if Broadsky got to him first. Booth swallowed thickly, suddenly the dark felt too dark and imposing. He let out a long breath through his mouth but his heart kept to its pounding pace.

He needed light and water. He didn’t want Brennan to wake up and see him like this. He didn’t want to taint their first time together with his own guilt. Gently he untangled his body away from hers, stopping to place a kiss to her forehead as he settled her head back against his pillow. He was shaking far more than he was comfort with as he slipped from the bed, managing to find his boxers and pull them on. He spared one last look at his sleeping partner. His _everything_.

“God, I love you.” His voice was hoarse, and it came out as barely more than a whisper. She slept on undisturbed as he pulled himself together enough to leave the bedroom, drawing the door closed behind him so the light wouldn’t wake her.

He navigated his way to his small kitchen in the dark with ease, a move he’d done many times throughout the years. Booth flipped the light on, blinking harshly at the flood of brightness across his eyes. Making his way over to the sink he focused on keeping his breathing even, taking in the dirty dishes that he’d have to take care of at some point tomorrow. After. If there was an after.

He thought about Bones then, asleep in his bed, her naked skin wrapped up in his sheets. There had to be an after. He needed more than one night of her. Of them. He needed to spend every day of his life from now on making her happy, making up for every stupid mistake he’d made with her over this past year. He needed to deserve the love she had given him tonight because she didn’t give it lightly and Booth know how much vulnerability she showed when she came to him earlier. He knew how much it cost her to open herself up to him again after everything and he wouldn’t hurt her more by dying on her.

He filled up an empty glass he found on his countertop, taking small sips of water. It was cold and refreshing and Booth couldn’t help but start to gulp it down. When he’d finished he felt a little better, his heart no longer threatening to beat straight through his ribcage. Bones would definitely enjoy correcting him on that statement. He held the glass loosely in his hand, thinking about another conversation they’d had so many years ago.

_“The heart is a muscle. It cannot be broken, Booth. Only crushed.”_

Maybe she was right. He could remember his heart squeezing painfully like being crushed when she agreed to a date with Hacker. Or when she stood outside the Diner and held that shell up to her ear as he watched from his seat by the window. Or when he was angry and bitter and threatened to get her a new partner if she didn’t sit and drink with him. He was an asshole.

The glass slipped through his fingers, smashing against the floor at his feet and shattering outwards from the impact. Booth barely heard it as he stood looking around at the glass glimmering on the floor in the light from the bulb. He braced himself, both hands on the sink, not daring to move his feet incase he stood on glass and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Booth?” Her voice was soft and gentle and far away yet when Booth found the strength to open his eyes and turn towards her, she was barely a few feet from him, standing by the entryway to the kitchen in his discarded FBI t-shirt and nothing else.

She looked worried and all Booth could think about was how right she looked in his shirt, how beautiful she was. As if he couldn’t want her anymore than he already did. There was something so domestic about it, like they’d been together for years rather than a night and suddenly Booth’s heart squeezed again.

“Be careful in here, I broke a glass.” He told her softly, taking in her small delicate feet against his hardwood floor, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Are you okay?”

Booth met her eyes, warm and gentle blue and nodded, “Yeah, it didn’t cut me.”

He eyed the best way to make a path to her without ending up with glass in his foot and managed to find a route without too much difficulty. He would have to sweep up the glass before he ventured back into his kitchen though.

Bones was still watching him, hands tugging on his t-shirt in an attempt to pull it further down her legs.

“I could move back to the couch.” She told him softly, eyes not meeting his.

Booth jarred at the thought, fingers finding her chin to get her to meet his gaze, “No.” He said firmly, “The only place you’re going is back to bed with me.”

Brennan let out a breath and Booth could see the relief in her eyes. She thought he had changed his mind and moved out here to get away from her. The idea made his head swim. With his fingers on her chin, he forced her head up to meet his, capturing her lips in a soft kiss.

“Is it okay that I do that now?” He asked her, so much between them they still needed to figure out.

Her smile was blinding, “Of course. I just wasn’t sure if you regretted…”

He cut her off, never wanting to hear those words from her mouth, “Never. Not this. I’d never regret being with you, Bones.”

“I woke up and you weren’t there, so I assumed you were having second thoughts. Maybe it’s too soon and you need more time? It’s okay, Booth, we both agreed we had stuff to work through before we attempted any kind of romantic or sexual relationship.” Brennan’s hands found his, her fingers slotting between his easily.

Booth shook his head, “No, okay, Bones. No. I want this. I want you. I always have. I just…”

“What, Booth?”

“I made so many mistakes.”

Brennan frowned in confusion, “Everyone makes mistakes. You taught me that.”

“Not like this, they don’t.” He sighed and pulled on their joined hands to lead her over to the couch, Brennan’s blanket and pillow still there from earlier, the glass in the kitchen already forgotten. He needed her to understand especially if he had to go up against Broadsky today. There were things he needed her to know, “I messed up a lot of things with us, especially this year and I’m sorry, Bones. It will never be enough, and I promise I will make it up to you every day that you’ll let me.”

Brennan let go of his hands, settling herself onto the sofa, tucking her bare legs underneath her. Booth followed suit; the fabric of the sofa cold against his bare back. Brennan tucked a hand into his again, both of them watching their fingers curled around each other.

“I want a do-over.” Booth confessed softly, brown eyes lifting to meet Brennan’s.

“I don’t know what that means.” He wanted to laugh at the familiar statement because of course she didn’t.

He smiled gently at her, “It means I want to get it right this time. We deserve that, Bones. We’ve wasted so much time.”

“We can’t change the past, Booth.”

“But if we could, I need you to know I’d have never let you get in the cab alone that first night we kissed in the rain.”

Brennan laughed, “That was seven years ago.”

He nodded, “Exactly, I’ve been a stubborn coward for seven years. Not anymore. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend I’m not in love with you. It’s been killing me, Bones.”

“You’re not a coward,” Her eyes soften, “You’re the bravest man I’ve ever met.”

Booth thought briefly about his mild freak out in the kitchen only moments ago and shook his head, “Not when it comes to you. I should have had the guts to tell you how scared I was when the Gravedigger took you. I went crazy, Bones. Or how much I just wanted to hold you at your dad’s trial. I should have told you I loved you the second you came to get me from that ship in a damn helicopter. I should have kissed you at the museum when you told me what goes on between us should just be ours. I shouldn’t have agreed to leave for a year and come back with another woman. I shouldn’t have hurt you like that, Bones. That’s not who I am. That’s not the man I want to be.”

“Oh Booth.” Her voice said it all, the shock at having no idea he had all this regret and anger at himself swirling around inside of him. The sadness that he’d been carrying this around with him for years, forcing his feelings down and pretending they didn’t exist.

Once he started, he couldn’t seem to stop, “I screwed up, Bones. I screwed it all up. I pushed when I should have waited for you. I closed off when I needed to open up. I was a world class jerk to you this year and you need – _you deserve_ – better.”

As if she could sense his self-loathing spiral, Brennan’s eyes grew fierce. She let go of his hand and all but climbed into his lap, a move he could never imagine her making before tonight. Her legs bracketed his thighs and he could feel the heat of her burning into his skin as she faced him, taking his face in her hands so she could force him to maintain eye contact.

“You think you’re the only one who made mistakes? That you were the only one who was selfish? I asked you if we could keep working together outside the Hoover that night.” They both knew which night she was referred to. The night he laid his cards on the table and she refused to gamble. “I knew it was selfish to ask you for that, I knew it would hurt you, but I didn’t want to give you up, Booth. I couldn’t and it ended up driving us both away.”

Booth’s hands found her thighs, palms smoothing the soft skin, “I don’t want us to ever be that. To be the kind of people who can hurt each other.”

Her fingers moved to the hair at the back of his neck, “But we are, Booth. Angela says that’s the power that comes from loving someone, knowing how to destroy each other.”

“No Bones, that’s not love, okay? That’s never love.”

Bones seemed to concede his point without pressing for further explanation, “You once told me that you’d kill for me. That you’d… die for me. Is that love, Booth?”

His fingers tightened against her thighs and he watched her eyes flicker down to the faint ridged circular mark near his heart that marked the spot of the bullet he’d taken for her. Booth dropped his head to catch her gaze again, his words whispered like a declaration between them.

“Yeah Bones, that’s love.”

Her hands moved over his, still resting on her thighs and guided them upwards over her hips and under the hem of his stolen t-shirt. The fabric moved up her body as his hands slipped up to her waist, she wasn’t wearing any underwear. She hadn’t been since he’d taken them off her earlier that night. The thought made his cock twitch.

“Prove it.” She challenged, letting go of his hands to move hers back to his broad shoulders. With those two words and the desire in her eyes, Booth became impossibly hard for her again and judging by Brennan’s little shuffle in his lap, she knew it.

Their lips were on each other in a matter of seconds and whereas their first time had been soft and sweet and gentle, Booth knew their second would be anything but. The desperation and desire was already threatening to swallow him whole and then Brennan slipped her tongue into his mouth and Booth figured he might as well be drowning because he couldn’t get enough of her. He pulled her closer to him, as if there was anywhere else she could go. She wanted him to prove that he loved her? Okay, he thought, with _pleasure_. He pushed her t-shirt up and Brennan released his mouth long enough to slip it over her head and throw it to the floor and then Booth was pulling her mouth back to his again, capturing her bottom lip and sucking on it as his hands found her breasts.

Her palmed her, feeling Bones arch into his touch as he smoothed his thumb over a hard nipple. She gasped into his mouth, pulling away for air as her fingers slid into his hair. Booth’s lips moved to her neck, seeking out the spot near her ear that he’d discovered earlier. Her whole body seemed to shudder as he kissed her there and Booth could feel her hips roll against him in response. He was straining against his boxers, trying to stop himself from rutting up against her and coming in his clothes like a damn teenager. His lips continued to move down her neck rediscovering her skin for a second time.

“Booth.” Her voice was breathy, and he wanted to tell her how much he loved that she still called him Booth while they were like this. It was something that only she did. Like that name belonged to her. The name he preferred, on her lips in pleasure, was as close to Heaven as Seeley Joseph Booth might ever get and he was surprising okay with it as long as he had her.

Bones rolled her hips against him again and Booth was pretty sure he could feel a damp patch on his boxers from her arousal. Because she wanted him. Because she loved him. He let that knowledge seep into his heart as he flicked his tongue out against her nipple. He felt her breath stutter, her fingers tightening in his hair as she ground down against him. He loved this about her, how reactive she was, how much her body gave her away in private despite how aloof she could carry herself in their work.

Her fingers moved down past his shoulders, dragging over his nipples until he was the one groaning as they slipped over his stomach and found the waistband of his boxers. She started tugging at them, making her displeasure at their presence known in the harsh force she used to try and get them out the way.

“Bedroom.” He growled out as her fingers grazed his hard-on.

Bones buried her head in the curve of his shoulder, placing a kiss on his neck, “Here.” She retorted, and he could feel the wicked smile against his skin as she tugged on his boxers again.

“Bones.” His voice was rough as his hips moved upwards against her body.

“Love me.” He wasn’t sure if it was a question or a command and he wasn’t sure he cared as he lifted his hips and let her slide his boxers away from his hips.

“I do.”

They managed to get the boxers over his knees and down his legs so Booth could kick them away without moving her off his lap. His cock was hard between them and Brennan wasted no time in wrapping a hand around him.

Booth hissed, “Jesus, Bones.”

“I want you.”

Booth slipped a hand between them, fingers brushing the inside of her thighs until he encountered her wet heat, he easily slid two fingers into her body, curling them in the way he now knew she liked. Bones bit her lip, her hand on his cock squeezing him gently.

“You’re so wet.” He breathed out in awe that he had done this to her. He’d made her this wet with want and desire for him.

She stroked him in agreement and Booth responded by thrusting his fingers into her again. Brennan pulled back so she could look at him as she stroked him firmly this time, from base to tip, watching his reaction. Booth thought his eyes might roll back into his head at the pleasure pooling in his gut but followed suit, withdrawing his fingers before pushing them back into her again, watching her hips rock against his hand. Booth moved slightly so his thumb could brush over her clit in a tight circle. He went maddeningly slowly, watching for each reaction in her as he did.

He could tell the exact moment she had given up playing this game of wills between them because her whole body seemed to hum as she ground down against his fingers with a whimper that told Booth this wasn’t enough for her anymore.

“I want you inside me.” She told him, lifting up onto her knees so he could slip his fingers out and replace them with his cock. Her fingers latched onto his shoulders, nails digging in as Booth positioned himself at her entrance, the tip of his cock already glistening with her arousal. It was Brennan, ever the impatient Brennan, that moved down on his cock, sliding him home inside her tight heat.

Booth kept a solid grip on her hips as she settled herself over him, buried deep inside her for the second time that night. Her nails would leave dents in his skin this time around and Booth found he was more than okay with that.

She kissed him deeply, a sign to him to move and he did. He rolled his hips against her, his hands helping guide her body up and down on his cock, using her knees for leverage as they dug into the cushions of his couch.

The pleasure pooling in his gut was maddening, heightened by the feelings he had for the woman in his arms and Booth found himself wanting to see her fall apart again, needing to take in the flush of her skin as she came.

He tore his mouth from hers as she sped up her pace, one hand smoothing up her back to keep her close to him as she rode him. Brennan’s forehead came to rest against his, their noses brushing with every thrust as she panted against him.

“Booth.” He’d never tire of his name on her lips, growling in reply as she slammed back down onto him.

Brennan’s body was shaking with her building pleasure and Booth knew she’d come soon. He wouldn’t be far behind her. She slid up again before slamming back down and this time Booth’s hand moved to her clit again, thumb brushing over the bundle of nerves as she jolted back up on her knees.

“I’ve killed for you.” He told her gently, the hand wrapped around her back gathering her hair at the nape of her neck to keep it out of her face. She slid back down on him with a whimper and Booth jerked his thumb over her clit again.

“I’d die for you.” He growled, forehead brushing against hers as she sped up again, her whole body vibrating against him as her cheeks flushed brightly with colour.

“Booth.” She breathed, his thumb finding her clit again, pressing hard and firm in a tight circle of pleasure.

“I love you, Bones.”

He was edging closer to his orgasm, his body burning up for her as he thrusted his hips up, keeping constant attention on her clit under his thumb. She was so close she was practically gasping out with every thrust.

“I love you.” She whimpered in pleasure, hips stuttering against his own.

“Then let me see you come.”

His worked her clit, once, twice, a third time before he felt her shatter in his arms, her forehead pressed against his own, fingers digging into his skin. Her walls contracted around his cock so tightly it set off Booth’s own release, buried deep inside her just like the first time they’d done this.

Brennan smiled lazily at him, cheeks red, eyes dark as she let her head fall into the crook of his neck, pressing a kiss against his skin. As if one kiss weren’t enough, she pressed another, and another, working her way back to his mouth until she could press her lips over his with the passion that only came from a bone-shattering orgasm.

“I do love you, Bones.” He told her when she pulled back again, Booth’s hand smoothing her hair behind her ear. He couldn’t stop saying it. Not after their first time together when he’d confessed it in a whisper that she returned without missing a beat. “I should have told you that a long time ago.”

Brennan kissed him again, “Thank you for saying it now.”

“I’ll say it every day if you’ll let me.”

“I’d like that.”

They stayed in silence for another few moments before Brennan spoke again.

“Booth?”

“Hm?” He hummed softly, placing a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. She wrinkled it at the action which made him smile wider.

“I seem to be experiencing a constricted blood flow to my left calf muscles.”

“So, you have pins and needles in your leg?”

“That is correct.”

He let out a small chuckle, “Okay Bones, let’s get you back into bed.”

Before she could say another word, he shifted with her in his arms until he was standing, leaving her little choice but to keep her legs and arms wrapped around him as he moved them to the bedroom. He got her settled before joining her under the covers, their bodies moving towards each other until they were back to how they started the night, wrapped up together in a tangle of limbs. Brennan stretched out her leg against him, wiggling her toes to get feeling back into them.

“Much better.” She breathed against his chest and Booth squeezed her tighter.

“I tried to move things to the bedroom earlier, but someone was impatient.” He pointed out.

“Booth?”

Booth opened his eyes in the dark, “Yeah, Bones?”

“Are we together now?”

“Yeah, Bones. If you still want me.”

“I do.”

“Then I’m yours.”

He felt Brennan wrinkle her nose at that, “I don’t own you, Booth. You’re a person, not a piece of furniture.”

“I know that, Bones. It just means you’re it for me. Always have been. I’m your partner. I’m your lover. I’m your boyfriend. I’m yours, okay?”

“Boyfriend?” She repeated in distaste, “It’s too juvenile a term. I am not calling you my boyfriend.”

“It doesn’t matter what you call me. I’m still yours.”

“Partner.”

Booth smiled in the dark, “Partner.”

They lapsed into silence, Brennan’s fingers stroking over Booth’s chest. He had to be in a debriefing at nine. He should really get some sleep but the idea of sleeping through these precious hours with her felt like wasting too much time. Especially if things with Broadsky didn’t go his way. He couldn’t leave her without knowing she was everything to him and he knew how much he’d almost messed everything up with her. She needed to know he wasn’t going to waste this chance at them.

“Bones, there’s something else you should know before we get into this.” He sighed gently, eyes sliding shut at the fear of telling her this next part.

Brennan’s fingers stilled on his chest, “What is it, Booth?” The rigid line of his body was clearly enough to tell her what he had to say wasn’t good.

“I gambled when I came home.” He breathed out, the shame in his voice unmistakable but he didn’t want to go into this without her understanding how far he’d fallen. He wanted her to understand how important honesty still was to their partnership, “When I was with Hannah. I slipped. I never told her about my gambling problem. I never told her anything about my past really. But I hadn’t gambled since the first case we worked together. I just couldn’t stop myself this time. I didn’t want to.”

She squeezed him tighter to her and Booth could feel his eyes burning with tears. Her voice was soft and non-judgemental in the dark and he loved her for it, “Why didn’t you call me?”

“How could I? I was cutting you out, trying to convince myself I’d moved on so we could keep our partnership. I couldn’t ask you to save me from myself, Bones. That’s not your job. I couldn’t be that selfish or that much of an asshole.” Booth said bitterly, remembering the feel of the cards in his hands and the money he’d lost. The feeling of self-destruction in more ways than one. He remembered how angry and withdrawn he’d been with her, with their friends, letting his actions pull him further away from the man he was and tried to be.

“Are you still gambling?” She asked it gently, no fear or disgust in her voice.

“No.” Booth vowed, “It happened a few times. Then I saw you press that stupid shell to your ear outside the Diner. I don’t know why that changed anything, but I called my sponsor right after you left. I’m back to going to my meetings. I’m okay, Bones. I’ll be okay.”

“ _We’ll_ be okay, Booth.” She paused for a moment, “Why would you do that? Risk your career, your relationship with Parker, everything you’ve worked so hard to protect?”

“Because I’m a goddamn mess right now, Bones. I wasn’t thinking. I’ve been an asshole since I came back. You’ve seen it. I probably hurt you in a thousand small ways I don’t even know about. I couldn’t get anything right.”

Brennan shifted, forcing him onto his side next to her so they were lying face to face, even in the dark he knew her eyes would be sad for him. For how far he’d fallen.

“When you said you were angry I didn’t think you were referring to directing that anger at yourself.” She said quietly.

Booth shrugged, “I just need you to know that I’m dealing with it, okay? I’m handling my own demons. If you want to wait until I do that to start this thing properly then I understand.”

“No.” She was clear and firm, “I’m your partner. Let me be your partner.”

“I really do love you. I’m sorry I wasted so much time pretending that I didn’t.” Booth whispered to her.

Brennan’s fingers found his, “I know.”

And just like that, he knew they were going to be okay. Not today, or tomorrow but they’d get there. They were both ready to fight for this thing between them now. They’d worked on themselves and now it was time to work on _them_. Booth shuffled closer to her and Brennan crawled the rest of the way into his arms.

“Sleep, Booth.” She sighed, “We can talk more tomorrow.”

He nodded, “I’ll come home and we can get take-out and we’ll start the rest of our lives together.”

The fear that he might not be coming home rose up in him but he didn’t want to dump that on her too, so he forced it down and held her tighter to his chest. He would come home. He had to. For her.

“Thai food.” She said and Booth knew she was thinking about the same thing as him. The possibility Broadsky would win.

“Thai food.” He agreed, kissing her head gently before closing his eyes and allowing sleep to finally find him.

/

He woke up less than an hour later to the sound of his alarm blaring. He was bone-tired and practically smothering Brennan as she laid on her back and Booth’s body was cocooned around her. He quickly switched off the alarm before it could wake her up, raising up on an elbow to study her as she slept. She really was beautiful, her face soft and carefree in her sleep. The sheet was down at their waists, her nipples pebbled from the morning chill. Booth leaned down to kiss her shoulder softly but she didn’t stir.

It was seven and he had to be in the office for nine, he’d need to drop Bones off at the lab beforehand which meant he should really get up. He still had glass covering his kitchen floor that would need to be cleaned up before he could even think about making coffee this morning. Yet, he didn’t move, watching his sleeping partner in the light of a new day.

His fingers drifted to her sheet covered thigh, moving under the cover to lightly brush his hand over her warm skin. She hummed slightly and moved her leg further out giving him better access to dance his fingers along her inner thigh.

Booth dropped another kiss on her shoulder, the need to touch her beyond anything he’d ever felt. His lips skimmed her body, avoiding her breast until he had to shuffle down the bed in order to reach her stomach. His fingers kept up with their teasing strokes of her soft skin.

Brennan let out a whispered moan, shifting her body instinctively closer to him as Booth let his tongue drag across her stomach. He felt her body freeze for a moment as she woke before relaxing under him again. Booth gave her a playful nip to her hip as his fingers moved higher. He could smell her arousal and it was making him hard under the sheet.

“Booth?” Her voice was sleepy and he felt guilty about waking her despite knowing she’d have had to get up anyway.

“I want you again.” He growled out, his own voice thick and rough with sleep.

Brennan said nothing but shifting her legs further apart so Booth could settle between them. He wasted no time in doing so, shifting until his shoulders were tucked under her thighs and his head was between her legs. He hooked her legs over his shoulders, needing to taste her and leaving no doubt in Brennan’s mind where he was going with this. His lips found the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, sucking a kiss there.

“We don’t have time.” She sighed softly, making no move to change their position.

Booth gave her an experimental lick before pulling back to meet her eyes, “I promise to be quick.”

He ducked his head back down to her, wasting no time on teasing. He found her clit and sucked it into his mouth, his chin getting covered with her slick heat. Brennan bucked against him, heels digging into his shoulders with a gasp.

Her whole body seemed to arch as he sucked her hard and fast, they had no time for teasing right now and Booth snaked his hands up to hold her hips down so he could get a firm hold on her clit. He sucked and flicked the little bundle of nerves with his tongue, cataloguing each reaction from her before pulling the next one from her body.

She was perfect.

He grazed his teeth lightly over her and felt Brennan’s fingers clamp onto his hair, enjoying his administrations as much as he was.

“Booth, please.” She breathed out, head turned against the pillow as she tried to thrust against his face but his hands held her steady.

He went back to sucking at her clit, which seemed to get the loudest moans from his partner as he released her hips, one hand moving until he could thrust two fingers inside of her along with the attention of his tongue. Brennan bucked into him, legs tightening around his head as he worked her closer to the peak of her pleasure.

He groaned against her, feeling his own hips stuttering into the mattress beneath him to get some friction on his own aching cock at the mere taste of her on his tongue. He could stay with his head between her thighs forever. He flicked his tongue out again, curling his fingers against that spot inside of her he knew would bring her closer to her orgasm.

Brennan was writhing underneath him, her grip on his hair damn near painful as he fucked her mouth with his tongue. He felt her legs shake around his head, a sure sign she was hurdling towards her release.

He worked her clit stiff, flicking his tongue out against her before sucking on it hard and soothing her with his tongue again all the while working his fingers inside of her at a maddeningly pace. The moment she orgasmed with his name on her lips, her whole body when rigid and Booth held his tongue flat against her, letting her roll her hips against his mouth as the aftershocks of her release pulsed through her body.

It was only when her legs released him from their vice-like grip and her hand was tugging his hair that he let his fingers leave her body and crawled up towards her.

Brennan smiled blissfully as he crawled over her, mouth still shiny with her arousal. She smoothed her forearm over his lips and chin, wiping him clean before pulling him down to kiss her, his cock hard and leaking pre-come between their bodies.

“Bones.”

She shifted her hips when she felt him hard and hot between her thighs, taking him inside her body with a swift hook of her legs around his waist that stole the breath from his body.

“Fuck.”

She smiled again, kissing him passionately as she urged him to move. Booth did, fast and hard as he buried his face into the curve of her shoulder dropping random kisses against her skin in time with his thrusts. Brennan kept pace with him easily, her hips rising to meet his on every beat.

“Come on, Booth.” She teased him, “Don’t hold back on me now.”

He sped up, slamming into her hard as his forearms shook with the effort to keep his weight off her. Brennan’s legs moved higher up his waist, allowing Booth to take her deeper and he could feel his pleasure teasing at the edges of his vision.

“Bones.” He growled, his teeth grazing her shoulder. He was so close.

“I know.”

“Baby.” That one slipped out but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

“I love you.” She told him, the words whispered against his ear made his shudder and push into her again.

“Are you…?”

“Just don’t stop.”

He didn’t, he could hear in her voice that she was ready to come with him again. Just a little more. He pulled out before sliding back in again and again, her fingers digging into his biceps as her legs tightened around him.

She bit into his shoulder and the shock of it made him come with a growl of her name. She followed him only a few thrusts later, tightening around him deliciously as her fingers burned into his arms.

When he could remember how to move again he rolled to the side of her so he didn’t crush her, finding her mouth with his own in a kiss.

“Morning.” He smiled sleepily.

Brennan laughed, “Good Morning.”

“I wish I could make love to you all day.”

“That would be impractical.” She pointed out.

“But fun.”

She kissed him again, rolling him onto his back so she was over him, “You have to get Broadsky.”

He nodded, “I will.”

“You’re not allowed to die.”

“You’re amazing.”

“I mean it.”

Booth kissed her softly, “I know. I won’t. I promise.”

“You’ll pick me up from the lab?”

“Don’t I always?”

Brennan smiled at him, “Then thai food and the rest of our lives?”

“Forever, Bones.”

“Forever is not an accurate measure of time.”

“Forever.” He was firm.

“For infinity.” She was firmer.

“Okay.” He agreed before kissing her again, the daylight bleeding into the bedroom from the crack in the curtains.


End file.
